A Smiling Maduro Pleads Not Guilty to New Torture Charges Tacked Onto Narcoterror Offenses

An unusually jolly Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Adela Flores de Maduro, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new charges of state-sponsored torture against political adversaries, tacked onto a long list of offenses the couple face over their alleged two-decade-plus reign of narcoterrorism in Venezuela. Speaking in Spanish at a Manhattan federal courtroom, the 63-year-old deposed dictator told U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein that he rejected the updated indictment unsealed on October 9 “in its entirety,” describing the new charges as “false accusations and false testimony.” “I am completely innocent. I am not guilty,” added Ms. Flores, who turned 70 on her arraignment day.Both defendants were dressed in beige prison garb and shackled at their feet. Mr. Maduro appeared in a surprisingly good mood considering the severity of the allegations. The former president was smiling and laughing with his attorney, and even nodded at reporters seated in the jury box. After U.S. Special Forces captured the duo and flew them to New York City in January following a dramatic raid at their residence at central Caracas, Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores pleaded not guilty to charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, drug trafficking, and weapons offenses. The two are being held separately at the Metropolitan Detention Center at Brooklyn Federal prosecutors allege that Mr. Maduro, Ms. Flores, Mr. Maduro’s son from a previous marriage, Nicolás Maduro Guerra, two government officials and the leader of the drug trafficking gang Tren de Aragua conspired to smuggle tons of cocaine into the United States to enrich themselves. Besides Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores, the remaining co-defendants remain at large.The superseding indictment unsealed last week further accuses Mr. Maduro and Ms. Flores of the conspiracy to commit torture on political dissidents as well as on numerous detained American citizens over the course of two decades. The allegations stretch back as early as 1999, long before Mr. Maduro took over as president of Venezuela in 2013 after his mentor, Hugo Chávez, died of cancer.“After coming to power in or about 2013,” federal prosecutors wrote in the indictment, “the defendant continued and expanded a policy of repression, illegal detention, and torture that had begun under Chavez.” The torture methods included “electric shock, asphyxiation, rape, forced nudity, prolonged isolation, starvation, punishment cells, and psychological torture, such as threats to harm and kill victims’ families, including children.” Mr. Maduro is accused of personally recommending torture methods, receiving updates on specific victims’ treatment, and was even seen “laughing after hearing about the abuse of prisoners,” the indictment alleges.The torture was especially gruesome and brutal in times of political unrest, prosecutors stated, writing the couple “employed their system of violent repression with particular force and regularity during periods of political unrest.” Mr. Maduro’s defense attorney Barry Pollack told reporters last week that his client denies all allegations and “looks forward to his day in court.”Days after the new charges were unsealed, the acting Venezuelan government unexpectedly extradited a Colombian-born operative, Álvaro Pulido, who is accused of laundering more than $2 billion for the Maduro regime, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on his X account on Sunday. Mr. Pulido, 62, who appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida at Miami on Tuesday, is the second major figure to be handed over to Washington from the massive Maduro-era corruption scandal. Mr. Maduro’s alleged frontman, Alex Saab, was extradited just five months prior. According to experts, who spoke to Spain’s El Pais news network, Mr. Pulido, a compulsive gambler, who lived under the identity of a deceased person, “knows where all the money is.” Judge Hellerstein, who recently rejected a medical bail request for Ms. Flores after labeling her a severe flight risk, pushed back the trial date to June 14, 2027, from June 1, 2027 to allow both parties more time to prepare. He also rescheduled the date to hear oral arguments on the defense’s motion to dismiss the entire case on grounds of sovereign and diplomatic immunity. The parties will make their arguments before the judge on December 17. Because the Maduros were internationally recognized heads of state when they were captured, their attorneys argue, international law bars the American judicial system from prosecuting them. Federal prosecutors strongly opposed the motion, pointing out that the current Venezuelan government has explicitly chosen not to request immunity for the ousted leader and his wife.

A Smiling Maduro Pleads Not Guilty to New Torture Charges Tacked Onto Narcoterror Offenses

A Smiling Maduro Pleads Not Guilty to New Torture Charges Tacked Onto Narcoterror Offenses

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